


What Sorey Was Up To When He Wasn't Sleeping

by StoryTellerOfLunchTime (Cooem)



Category: Tales of Series, Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Animated GIFs, Because it's too sad, End-Game spoilers, Fanart, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Headcanon, Hope, Humour, Liberal interpretation of Sorey's Sleepy Time With Maotelus, the story telling kind only
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 16:09:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10222193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cooem/pseuds/StoryTellerOfLunchTime
Summary: Long distance friendship maintenance is healthy and vital to the land. The kind of head canon ending that makes things considerably less sad, without hand waving away the known canon conditions of the situation. No mention of romantic relationships.





	1. Year Zero - An Interrupted Picnic

**Author's Note:**

> The official ending of Zestiria left many fans with a deep sense of loss and sadness. It did not sit well with me that Sorey will have given away everything for the world that gave him so precious little. It did not sit well with me that the beautiful friendships forged during the most epic history of their universe can't even be described as "bittersweet". It's just bitter. For example, they couldn't even tell us with any conviction that it's Sorey who rescues Mikleo at the end. What kind of angst are they trying to pull here? Unacceptable! 
> 
> The Story Teller Of Lunch Time is here to the rescue!
> 
> Here is my best attempt at respecting every detail that's given in the game about Sorey's sleep situation, adding large spoonfuls of sugar into this most bitter cup of beautiful coffee. 
> 
>  
> 
> _**IF you noticed anything that conflicts with game canonical knowledge, PLEASE let me know. That's the whole point of the exercise. I beg of you, please comment if I messed up anywhere**_

# What Sorey Was Up To When He Wasn't Sleeping

### 

_Strength For Today, And Bright Hopes For Tomorrow_

### Chapter 1 - Year Zero - An Interrupted Picnic

Shortly after the festivities celebrating peace between Hyland and Rolance ended, Sorey’s friends went for a picnic just outside Ladylake. In those early months after Sorey left, the party did not stray far from Elysia. Mikleo might have been fine to do so, and in fact might have welcomed a distraction. But Lailah found one excuse or another to keep them close for a while. They had a relaxing day purifying weak hellion, and were sitting down for a meal when a flash of lightning followed immediately by thunder surprised everyone. After the first boom, they heard several bangs of distant thunder a few seconds apart. It was a perfectly clear day. 

Lailah froze in the middle of a lunch time conversation. She bolted up straight as she snapped her sight towards the beam of light indicating where Sorey sleeps, almost knocking her bowl of curry over onto her lap but made no attempt to catch it. The friends didn’t have to be told to shut up. They have always seen Lailah move with languid, graceful movements. She wasn’t smiling. They couldn’t even be sure she was breathing, in fact. She had a somewhat wild look in her eyes, sparkling with focus. They exchanged meaningful glances, and waited, in silence. 

A tense minute passed. Then, Lailah took a huge deep breath, and slumped back into her seat. Now no longer stiff, the friends are relieved that it doesn’t seem to be pain or a medical emergency. But to say that her body “relaxed” would be an overstatement.

Rose: What the heck was that. 

Rose reached for Lailah’s hands, and patted them gently as if she was soothing a child who was woken up by a nightmare. Lailah, recovering, attempted a smile to reassure everyone, her breathing still laboured. 

Lailah: Everyone….good work out here today, Let’s go back to town and have a chat with our friend, Uno, and Alisha too I think. 

She started walking towards Ladylake immediately, not bothering to clean up the meal or pick up their packs. 

Edna: Fine, I’ll play mother today then. 

Edna stomped her foot once, and a large pair of earthen hands rose up and pulled the whole thing into the ground. 

Mikleo’s heart was pounding. He followed Lailah right away and willed himself not to break out into a full gallop. Something was happening in Sorey’s direction. Something happened to Sorey. For the first time in his life he feared he might be sick. 

When Mikleo overtook Lailah with long, determined strides, she recovered enough to realise she’s frightening her poor water seraph. She put a soft hand on his shoulder, gave him a genuinely warm and dazzling smile that reached all the way up into her eyes. She held Mikleo’s hands gently, and continued in quick strides, but now with almost a spring in her steps and occasionally, a playful squeeze. Mikleo trusts his silent friend, and relaxes considerably, his fears hushed for the time being.

If she can’t say anything, it can only mean Maotelus. But something good, apparently. And Uno can help. This might be okay. One step at a time. Don’t be a fool. It might not even be entirely reckless to feel hope. 

Mikleo held Lailah’s hand all the way to Ladylake. He wasn’t sure if he was comforting her, or the other way around.


	2. Conversations Between New Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because not talking to the guy who just rescued your dragon butt and will be rooming with for several centuries is just plain rude. Maotelus was raised better than that.

# What Sorey Was Up To When He Wasn't Sleeping

### 

_Strength For Today, And Bright Hopes For Tomorrow_

### Chapter 2 - Conversation Between New Roommates

When Sorey first arrived, Maotelus was tired of the bloody path of being a hellion. He was ready to help Sorey help him, to purify the land and reclaim it as his vessel. His only concern was to make sure Sorey had no regrets for his decision, now and forever.

Because of the pact, Heldalf lost his friends, his son and family, his place in the world. His isolation and loneliness finally cost him his sanity as well. Sorey had just lost his grandfather. When this is done, his human friends will have all died, possibly along with every civilization he’s known as well. Even his Seraph friends will have matured and traveled hundred of years without him. How could one brief year of friendship stand against centuries of time? This different kind of loneliness might turn him into another Lord of Calamity. Maotelus has had a long, long time to reflect on the nature of life, death and the fleeting happiness in between. Now he needs Sorey to do the same.

So every night, when Maotelus could sense that the Prime Lord and Squire’s company has stopped needing Sorey to channel Shepherd powers to Rose, he would wake Sorey up to chat.

> Maotelus: Don't get used to it, though. You'll have to go into deep sleep soon. Oh, How soon is soon? As soon the land is purified enough that humanity can benefit from your help to channel as vessel so all can hear the Seraph's voice. So, a few centuries, tops. What, that's a long time? Right, I forgot, sorry.

Sorey had previously been troubled by the fact that he couldn’t save many people: Maison, Cardinal Forton, Lady Maltran, Eizen, Gramps, Heldalf, just to name a few. But he is at peace with it now: he doesn’t need to be the saviour of everybody. He can try, because that’s the right thing to do, but he knows that each personal choice should also be respected in the end. The result is not more important than the attempt. He has helped some, and his dream, for human to live harmoniously together with the Seraphim, lives on in Mikleo. It would be a dream to live in a world with no more child sacrifices by exposure, no more dungeon sacrifices to find a Sheperd, no more war due to crop failures. Sorey is doing his best, but the rest will be up to the people and each of their individual choices. It will never be perfect because humanity is guided by emotions, and that’s a good thing. The freedom to choose, to feel, and to love, despite pain, is the best path.

Maotelus was dead set against sacrificing anyone’s life to be used as a tool; Sorey convinced him that his willing self sacrifice has its time and place. They both need one another, so it wasn’t a one sided, unwilling sacrifice at all. Maotelus asked what Sorey truly needs, and what he truly desires, to ensure his happiness for the coming centuries of isolation. Afterall, he is thankful to Sorey for saving him, too. It’s the least he can do, he says. 

Maotelus asked who are the people most important to him, and who misses Sorey the most in the world. 

Sorey first thought of Lailah. She had dedicated her life to purifying hellions, and does so with almost a personal vengeance. It was clear that she still felt greatly troubled by what happened to Michael, and felt personally responsible. Sorey was worried about what losing a second Shepherd under her care would do to the kind, sensitive Seraph. Her being under oath made it even harder for her to open up and receive help from her friends.

Then Sorey thought about Mikleo. After Eizen, they had had many discussions about what turns a seraph into a dragon. Maotelus told Sorey what he knew. Mikleo is a very young Seraph who has yet to stabilize in emotions and growth. He then correctly assessed that having Mikleo turn into a dragon, over his anguish at having lost Sorey, would be the quickest way for this entire enterprise to fall apart. Sorey and Mikleo had good friends, but there was only so much friends can do when two souls joined from the start are so abruptly torn asunder.

Sorey wanted to know how his friends are doing. He wanted to reassure Lailah she was the best Prime Lord and that he would always be thankful for her. He needed to know how Mikleo is doing. He wanted all of them to understand that their mission had succeeded. He wanted them to go forward with their lives, enthusiastically and courageously, no matter what they choose to do in the big wide world in the centuries without him. 

The Squire and Prime Lord will need to travel far and wide. If Edna, Zaveid and Mikleo would like to go with them, it would be detrimental to have them feel torn between travelling, or staying close to Elysia waiting for Sorey. That’s the kind of thing that breeds malevolence. What happens from here on is just as important as what came before. 

Sorey had an idea. They need to send Mikleo, and all his friends, a message of Hope. But the message must also be one that prompt them forward in life, not stay stagnant sitting by a monument waiting, wasting away.


	3. Telegram. Some Assembly Required

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No adventures in life are a waste. Especially when there are actual dungeons and actual dragons in your world.

# What Sorey Was Up To When He Wasn't Sleeping

###  _

Strength For Today, And Bright Hopes For Tomorrow

_

### Chapter 3 -- Telegram. Some Assembly Required

Uno was waiting intently for Lailah and co. He jogged towards them with a smile as soon as they were within sight. 

Apparently, every Lord Of The Land on the continent (as well as Lailah, who was Prime Lord) received the same message. It was brief, quite garbled with interrupting pauses, and unmistakably from Maotelus. The message sounded like it was recited, slowly, each syllable enunciated clearly. Thankfully, the breaks were apparently not at the same places for each Lord. This is the message they were able to piece together: 

> `All Lords. All Lords. This is Maotelus. Maotelus. Messages. Messages. In. In. Seven. Seven. Days. Days. Contact. Contact. Sublord. Sublord. Mikleo. Mikleo. I say again, messages in seven days. Contact Sublord Mikleo. Out. `

Mikleo blushed, and explained what appears to be happening. Given the apparently poor transmission channel, it was a wise decision to broadcast with so many redundancies, and repetitions. Only Sorey would phrase the message like that and only Mikleo would know what it means

\---

Sorey and Mikleo used to play a paper and pen based storytelling game in Elysia, where they pretended to be adventurers, when they were too young to be actual adventurers. Gramps had supplied them with rule books, item compendiums, and monster manuals. The villagers would take turns hosting the games for Sorey and Mikleo, now pretending to be fierce monsters and now giving them puzzles to solve. It was probably an effort to satiate the boys’ desire for adventures, to keep the boys out of exploring real, dangerous ruins. Either that backfired spectacularly, or, all along it had been training to prepare them for the real thing. Mikleo missed Gramps all over again.

One of their many fantasy artifacts was the Sending Stone, which enabled one way at a time communication across vast distances. Once, the boys had a hilarious total party kill due to a keyword lost in spotty transmission. They took it in stride, and researched obsessively for methods to communicate using code, light signals, and voice communication over lossy channels. Gramps was so impressed by the end of the next game that he hugged the boys tightly until even Sorey complained. Mikleo missed Gramps so much. “Thank you for everything,” he whispered with a lump in his throat. 

\---

Rose: What.I repeat: What. Was that. 

Zaveid: “Standby for messages in seven days. Get Mikleo to translate nerd speak.”

Edna: ”Would the guardians of this sniffling lost child please come forward.”

Lailah: Oh my! I wonder what Sorey so desperately need to tell Mikleo, even if he has to shout it across the entire continent...

Mikleo isn’t even sure what kind of face to make, let alone a witty retort. Until the appointed day, he seems to be entirely lost in his own world of thoughts, facial expressions rotating like a runaway carousel from minute to minute. He didn’t even respond entertainingly to Rose’s taunt when she commented on his “shit eating grin” or Edna’s gentler than usual umbrella jabs. Zaveid made a game of placing napkins and small items on a distracted Mikleo. Lailah was worse than usual with puns and crazy o’clock definitely-not-related-to-Maotelus mutterings. 

In a good way. It was so, so nice to hear from Sorey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't figure out how to link the img into the text itself. Here's the conversation in the style of skits we're familiar with in game. =) I had fun making it and might make more of these in the future.  
> http://i.imgur.com/0fqiRMK.gif


	4. Can You Hear Me Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what Sorey and Maotelus managed to send to the crew

# What Sorey Was Up To When He Wasn't Sleeping

###  _

Strength For Today, And Bright Hopes For Tomorrow

_

### Chapter 4 -- Can You Hear Me Now?

Communication was a laborious process, which likely required massive amount of power to sustain. This was not the time to ask questions or chitchat. There was not even time to say hello. The entirety of the transmission, once repeat words are stripped, was as follows:

> ``Sorey is vessel. The plan works.  
>  Tracking purification location and progress.  
>  Communication will improve as land purifies.  
>  Do not expect another message.  
>  Sorey will wake from deep sleep once a year.  
>  Be happy. Be blessed and loved. Maotelus and Sorey. 

\---

And then it was over.

It was a massive relief to hear confirmation that this multi-century undertaking will work. Theoretically, depending on if malevolence is indeed kept in check, if no large wars break out, if all new Lords of Calamity neutralised quickly, if the people are ready, if Sorey doesn’t become corrupted, and if he lives that long, it will work. Eventually, after Maotelus regains the strength to bless the land, Sorey will enter deep sleep and become the communication channel between human beings and all seraphims. One day far into the future, humanity might gain natural resonance, the land itself can be an amplifying vessel, and Sorey’s channeling will no longer be necessary. 

The Lords of the Land suggested that one day when the land is healing, using a power similar to their own, letters could theoretically be sent to Maotelus/Sorey as offerings, and response letters might be sent to refill treasure boxes or directly to the other Lords. Since Maotelus can track Lailah’s location, and perceive their progress, it might also be one day possible to derive an estimate on how long Sorey must sleep. It’s all uncharted territory and they will have to take it one year at a time. 

\---

Rose: So, Sorey can’t speak on the string and cup toy, because he IS the toy. That’s too bad we didn’t get to chat. He missed out on all the cool Shepherd celebration too. Are you doing okay, Mikleo?

Mikleo: I’m fine. 

Zaveid: “Sorey will wake from deep sleep once a year”, huh. Sorey is obviously awake enough now to help Maotelus write the transcript. 

Edna: When Rose doesn’t need to borrow strength as squire, he must be awake a little bit, since the land doesn’t need him yet. 

Mikleo: I wonder how he is doing. They counted 7 days accurately, which mean he must experience time and will age normally like Rose and Alisha. I’m thankful Maotelus reached out to us so quickly. It obviously stretched his recovering powers to the limit, though. 

Lailah: For our plan to succeed, it is vital that Sorey maintains his purity from malevolence. If he should falter, it will be even worse than when Heldalf reigned. “Be happy, blessed, and...loved”, huh? Mikleo, are you doing okay, you’re--

Mikleo: I’m fine! 

Alisha: I think that’s why Grand Seraph Maotelus sent this message. Both Grand Seraph Maotelus and Shepherd Sorey needed to give us hope. And we need that hope. If we give up purification, Sorey will be aware of it and his sadness will have a negative impact on the entire world. 

Edna: It’s true. If there is hope, it will be enough to sustain a Seraph for millennia. He’s obviously worried about Meebo jeopardising the entire mission. 

Mikleo: I already said I’m fine!!

Rose: I’m just happy that Sorey seems happy enough to think that far ahead and got this all planned out. Since he can talk to Maotelus himself directly, I can imagine Maotelus getting real sick of being asked about ancient history very quickly, though. 

Edna: Great. The world’s greatest threats are now an emo teenager and his nerd best friend.


	5. Epilogue: Wilco

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was no time to say all that's on their minds. But what can two friends perfectly in tuned to each other read from between the lines?

# What Sorey Was Up To When He Wasn't Sleeping

### 

Strength For Today, And Bright Hopes For Tomorrow

### Chapter 5 -- Epilogue : Wilco

The end portion of Maotelus’s transmission, including repeats:

> `Be happy. I say again, be happy. Repeat. Over.`  
>  (Be happy. I need you say it back to me if you heard. Your turn to speak; response is expected.) 
> 
> `[pause]`
> 
> `Wilco. Be happy. Send.`  
>  (I will comply. You said “Be happy”. Your turn to speak; please continue.) 
> 
> `Be. Blessed. And. Loved. I say again, Be blessed and Loved. Maotelus and Sorey. Out.`  
>  (Be blessed and loved, Maotelus and Sorey ending this transmission; your response is not expected.)  
> 

Sorey said “be happy”. He didn’t say “wait for me,” or “fulfill our dream,” or even “don’t forget me”. Mikleo’s happiness was so important to Sorey that this was the only place during transmission where he asked for a repeat back over precious bandwidth. Mikelo understood what Sorey was asking of him.

> Mikelo  
>  _If it makes you happy, please wait for me_  
>  _If it makes you happy, my dream will live on with you as long as you don’t forget._  
>  _If it makes you happy, every time you gaze up at the night sky, please remember that night._
> 
> But  
>  _if the day comes, when waiting makes you sad_  
>  _when not forgetting brings you pain_  
>  _When the memory of that night sky makes you feel all alone,_  
>  _I want you to be happy,_  
>  _And move on with your life without me._

 

Even when isolated, exiled to the further corner of the world, Sorey still saw Mikleo’s happiness as paramount. Sorey wanted Mikleo to be free to step out into the world, no matter what happens to him. He wanted to free Mikleo of any guilt if he finds another dream, and if he finds someone to spend the rest of his life with. When Sorey had to choose between his own happiness or Mikleo’s, he chose Mikleo’s. 

Mikleo could have chosen to respond with “roger” meaning I heard you, or even just simply repeat the message without commenting. A selfish part of Mikleo wanted to protest, make grand promises, and demand promises in return. But Mikleo wanted to respond to Sorey’s feelings in the very limited time they had. He might not get another chance. Even if he could not bear the thought of giving up waiting for Sorey in a thousand years, even if he would sooner entomb the world with icy fury than to give up waiting, Mikleo promises Sorey he will uphold Sorey’s feelings, above his own. 

He will comply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my (many!) favourite episodes of Futurama is the one where Leela enters the very sexist DOOP army so her idiot friends don't die in the war, and Zapp Brannigan falls in love with her thinking Leela was a man named Lee Lemons. Something about the way he says "That young man fills me with hope. Plus some other emotions which are weird and...deeply confusing...." cracks me up every time. I will never not laugh at the scene where he sees Fry holding hands with Lemons, and stutters "Lee? You and him are good friends? I thought you and I could be...good friends". 
> 
> Mistaken identities, blurring the lines, and characters being uniquely dorky in a variety of hilarious ways have existed in drama and literature since time immemorial. While I am thankful that there's already plenty of it to go around built into Tales of Zestiria, I am also deeply grateful for the fanfiction community to flood the world with even more of it. Fanfiction also fills a vital role in helping each of us complete our own "head canon" where the original might fall short or left intentional and unsatisfactory omissions. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy my humble offerings to this dorky and fantastically fun universe. If these stories fill you with hope, and some other emotions that are weird and deeply confusing, I will consider my mission a great success. 
> 
> Thank you for your time, and may you be blessed and loved.


End file.
